High wins an Australian music award

Cobar High School Sounds & Stories won the Excellence in Music Education category at the 2023 Art Music Awards. Sounds & Stories is a collaboration by Cobar High’s music teacher Laura Andrew and Sydney-based composer and artist Elizabeth Jigalin.

Ms Andrew and Ms Jigalin were invited to attend the awards, presented by APRA AMCOS in conjunction with the Australian Music Centre (AMC), at the Carriageworks in Sydney last night.

The Art Music Awards celebrates individuals, groups and organisations in the Australian music community, recognising excellence among Australia’s finest creators and performers in contemporary classical, jazz, experimental music and sound art.

Four finalists were selected across 11 national categories, representing the excellence of Australian creators and practitioners as well as multi-dimensional, multi-cultural approaches and diverse perspectives within contemporary music making.

In the Excellence in Music Education category, Sounds & Stories was up against the tralian National Academy of Music (ANAM) for ANAM Set Festival; Musica Viva Australia for Musica Viva Australia National Education Program; and the Western Australia Youth Jazz Orchestra (WAYJO) for 2022 Annual Pathways Programs.

Cobar’s Sounds & Stories school project commenced in August 2022 and created a sound installation that celebrated the Cobar Silver Tank now the location of Georges Lentz’s permanent artwork, Cobar Sound Chapel.

The rich education program demonstrates how students can actively engage with contem-

Community members who helped to play a part in Cobar High School’s Silver Tank Sounds & Stories project were invited to join students and music teacher and project coordinator Laura Andrew at the school last week to celebrate their nomination for this year ’s Art Music Awards. At the time, they didn’t know they had won. The winners were announced last night at the awards ceremony in Sydney. ▪ Photo contributed